Toward a resolution of the proton size puzzle

Journal Article · Mon Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.84.020101· OSTI ID:22068451

Miller, G A ^[1]; Thomas, A W; Carroll, J D ^[2]; Rafelski, J ^[3]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560 (United States)
2. CSSM, School of Physics and Chemistry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005 (Australia)
3. Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 (United States)

We show that off-mass-shell effects arising from the internal structure of the proton provide a new proton polarization mechanism in the Lamb shift, proportional to the lepton mass to the fourth power. This effect is capable of resolving the current puzzle regarding the difference in the proton radius extracted from muonic compared with electronic hydrogen experiments. These off-mass-shell effects could be probed in several other experiments. A significant ambiguity appearing in dispersion relation evaluations of the proton polarizability contribution to the Lamb shift is noted.

• OSTI ID: 22068451
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 84, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
DISPERSION RELATIONS
HYDROGEN
LAMB SHIFT
LEPTONS
MASS
POLARIZABILITY
PROTONS
RESOLUTION